Direct-to-textile printing method and system

ABSTRACT

A method of digitally printing UV-curable ink with a direct-to-textile printing system onto a textile includes positioning the textile in the direct-to-textile printing system, applying UV-curable ink to the textile with the direct-to-textile printing system according to a digital design file; and at least partially curing the UV-curable ink applied to the textile with UV light.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/331,522 filed on Mar. 7, 2019, which in turn is the national phase ofPCT Application No. PCT/US2017/050963 filed on Sep. 11, 2017, which areincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the technical field of digital textileprinting such as garment and/or fabric printing, and in particular todirect-to-textile printing such as direct-to-garment and/or fabricprinting using UV-curable ink.

Digitally printing graphic designs and other decorative features ontextiles such as garments and fabric is very popular, and machines andprocesses have been developed that print these features directly ontothe fabric of a garment, without the necessity of a separate transferprocess. These machines and processes use a specialized inkjettechnology, and include a system for locating a print head with respectto the garment being printed and special inkjet textile ink that isapplied directly to the garment and is absorbed by the fibers of thegarment fabric. The inkjet textile ink that is employed is a typically awater-based ink that is sprayed onto the garment, is at least partiallyabsorbed by the garment fabric, and is finally adhered to the garmentfabric with a heat pressing process.

Current direct-to-garment printing processes may be employed to printdesigns onto light colored cotton garments without the need for anyparticular treatment of the garment. However, for printing ontomid-colored and dark colored cotton garments, or onto any coloredgarment made of a synthetic fabric or a blended fabric, printing on thegarment has only been effective when chemical pre-treatment of thegarment is performed, which consists of applying a chemical agent to thefabric in order to make it more receptive to the ink applied. Inaddition, even on light colored cotton garments, greater color intensitycan typically be achieved by pre-treating the garment prior to printing.Garment pre-treatment adds additional time and expense to thedirect-to-garment printing process, and involves the use of anadditional chemical material, which is applied with a separate machineor by hand. It would be beneficial in the art to achievedirect-to-textile printing for garments and/or fabric without the needfor chemical pre-treatment, particularly for synthetic and blendedfabrics.

SUMMARY

A method of digitally printing UV-curable ink with a direct-to-textileprinting system onto a textile includes positioning the textile in thedirect-to-textile printing system, applying UV-curable ink to thetextile with the direct-to-textile printing system according to adigital design file; and at least partially curing the UV-curable inkapplied to the textile with UV light.

A direct-to-textile digital printing system includes a support mediaconfigured to receive and support a textile, at least one print headsubassembly carrying at least one inkjet print head that is configuredto apply UV-curable ink to the textile according to a digital designfile, and at least one UV light source configured to apply UV light tothe textile after UV-curable ink is applied to the textile by the atleast one print head subassembly, to at least partially cure theUV-curable ink applied to the textile. At least one of the support mediaand the at least one print head subassembly are movable with respect toeach other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram of an exemplary direct-to-textile digitalprinting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram of an exemplary direct-to-textile digitalprinting process in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are illustrations of exemplary printing machines that maybe used to perform a direct-to-textile digital printing process.

FIG. 4A is a diagram of a print head subassembly configuration in aroll-to-roll printing machine configured for single pass operation witha stationary or scanning print head and UV light source.

FIG. 4B is a diagram of a print head subassembly configuration in aroll-to-roll printing machine configured for single pass operation withmultiple stationary or scanning print heads and UV light sources.

FIG. 5 is a photograph illustrating shirts printed with thedirect-to-textile digital printing process described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Herein, the terms “textile,” “garment” and “fabric” (among others) areused. The term “textile” is intended to refer to a piece of cloth orwoven fabric made of natural or synthetic materials, or blends thereof,whether in the form of a garment or other finished/assembled product, orin the form of an unfinished piece of material. Thus, as used herein, a“textile” could refer to a finished/assembled garment or other product,or to a piece of fabric that has not been finished/assembled.

A direct-to-textile digital printing process is disclosed which employsUV-curable ink rather than water-based ink. The process eliminates theneed for pre-treatment of the textile prior to printing. Throughout thisdescription, it should be understood that the discussion of directprinting to a textile is applicable to direct printing to any fabricconfiguration, with garments being a particularly popular example of anapplication for direct printing to a textile.

With today's water based inks, processes of printing a design directlyonto a textile such as a garment vary depending on the fabric that isbring printed to. Generally speaking, it has been possible to print adesign with water based ink directly to a textile that is made of whiteor light colored cotton or cotton blend material. However, printing ontomid to dark colored garments made of cotton or cotton blend materialrequires chemical pretreatment, followed by a heat press, then printingof the design onto the textile, and then another heat press. It is alsodifficult to apply the chemical agent for pretreatment of the textilewithout staining the textile, which would require an additional washingstep after printing. Moreover, digitally printing onto any color ofsynthetic or polyester fabric has required chemical pretreatment,followed by a heat press, then printing of the design onto the garment,and then another heat press. Staining as a result of chemicalpretreatment is even more difficult to avoid with fabrics of this type,and even with all of these steps, there are some synthetic fabrics thatcould not be printed to effectively regardless of the colors involved.

FIG. 1A is a flow diagram of an exemplary direct-to-textile digitalprinting process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. For example, the process illustrated in FIG. 1A may beperformed with a flatbed printing machine having one or more movableprint heads. In the illustrated process, first, at step 10A, a digitaldesign file is loaded or received (e.g., by a direct-to-textile printeror printing control system). This design file provides information aboutthe design (e.g., a logo or artwork) to be printed on the textile thatis used to control operation of direct-to-textile printing, such as viaa print engine interface board firmware algorithm that receives thedesign file information and drives the positioning system(s) of thedirect-to-textile printing system to control the relative positions ofthe textile and the print head(s) throughout the printing process. Next,at step 11A, the textile to be printed is positioned (such as on theflatbed surface of a direct-to-textile printer, for example), and heatis optionally applied to the textile prior to printing. It should benoted that the relative timing and order of steps 10A and 11A is notcritical, as the both of these steps are preparatory for the actualprinting of the textile. Then, the textile is optionally sprayed withwater, prior to printing, such as with a spray bottle or by a mechanizedprocess, at step 12A. In some embodiments, the textile may be sprayedwith 100% distilled water. In other embodiments, some amount of asurfactant (such as about 1% in an exemplary embodiment) may be added tothe water that is sprayed onto the textile. Also, a flat rigid articlemay be laid on top of the textile to flatten its fibers and even thedistribution of the water layer across the area to be printed. Thisoptional step is particularly useful for printing dark colors, as itimproves the appearance of printed colors on those materials, withoutthe risk of staining or the requirement of a heat press before printing,due to the use of water rather than a chemical pretreatment agent. Forlight or mid colored fabrics, optional step 12A of spraying the textilewith water can typically by omitted. After spraying of water on thetextile, the textile may optionally be pressed lightly or dried byanother source to dry its top surface before printing begins, as shownat step 13A.

Next, at step 14A, UV-curable ink is applied to the textile, inaccordance with the desired design indicated by the digital design file,and at step 16A, the UV-curable ink is cured by application of UV light,such as by an LED lamp in one embodiment, or by another type oflight/energy source in other embodiments. In some embodiments, theapplication of UV-curable ink in step 14A and the curing of the ink withUV light in step 16A may be performed in one or more passes of one ormore print head subassemblies that include one or more inkjet printhead(s) and one or more UV light source(s) (such as an LED lamp(s) oranother light/energy source) carried by the same subassembly, so thatthe printed ink is cured immediately after application to the textile.In other embodiments, separate structures may be used to perform thesetwo steps, as long as curing of the UV-curable ink occurs within a timesufficient for the viscosity and/or other rheological properties of theink to be modified so that good adhesion of the ink to the textile canoccur. In addition, the application of UV-curable ink may involve aninitial application of white ink before applying CMYK colored ink and/orclear ink (particularly for mid to dark colored fabrics, for example),in order to make the colors more vibrant.

After printing and curing of the UV-curable ink, the textile mayoptionally be dried at step 17A. For example, drying may be performed ata drying station or in a drying tunnel. Heat may also optionally beapplied to the textile at step 18A. Heat may be applied in combinationwith pressure, such as with a heat press or heated rollers, for example,or without application of pressure, such as via a heat tunnel, anadditional light and/or heat source, or even by the heat from the sameUV light source(s) used to cure the UV-curable ink on the textile. Inone particular example, heat pressing may be performed for about 30seconds at about 250° F. (121° C.). The heating step can further ensurethat all of the monomers of the UV-curable ink are fully cured, forcertain UV-curable inks that are curable by both UV light and by heat.An exemplary ink suitable for this process is Multisolve™ series UV inkavailable from Direct Color Systems of Rocky Hill, Conn. Also, inembodiments where water was sprayed on the textile (optional step 12A),this heating step will evaporate any remaining water. Finally, at step20A, the printed textile is removed or repositioned. For example, thisstep may involve removing the printed textile from a direct-to-textileprinter. In another example, the printed textile may be repositioned forfurther processing of some kind. The printing process described abovemay be performed to print a 9 inch by 9 inch (22.8 cm by 22.8 cm) fullcolor logo in about 70 seconds, in one exemplary embodiment.

In some embodiments, step 16A of curing the UV-curable ink with UV lightand step 18A of heat pressing the textile may be specifically configuredand controlled so that the UV-curable ink applied to the textile is onlypartially cured at step 16A, and full curing of the UV-curable ink iscompleted at step 18A by application of heat (which could includefurther UV light application to promote full curing as well). In otherembodiments, step 16A of curing the UV-curable ink with UV light may beconfigured and controlled to achieve complete curing of the UV-curableink applied to the textile.

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram of an exemplary direct-to-textile digitalprinting process in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention. For example, the process illustrated in FIG. 1B may beperformed in a roll-to-roll system that moves the textile to be printedrelative to one or more print heads. The roll-to-roll system may, insome embodiments, be part of a larger assembly line/processing system aswell. In the illustrated process, first, at step 10B, a digital designfile is loaded or received (e.g., by a direct-to-textile printer orprinting control system). This design file provides information aboutthe design (e.g., a logo or artwork) to be printed on the textile thatis used to control operation of direct-to-textile printing, such as viaa print engine interface board firmware algorithm that receives thedesign file information and drives the positioning system(s) of thedirect-to-textile printing system to control the relative positions ofthe textile and the print head(s) throughout the printing process. Next,at step 11B, the textile to be printed is positioned on a roll-to-rollmedia/support, so that the textile is positioned to be advanced via aroll-to-roll printing process under one or more print heads. It shouldbe noted that the relative timing and order of steps 10A and 11A is notcritical, as both of these steps are preparatory for the actual printingof the textile. In some embodiments, the textile may optionally beheated and/or may optionally be sprayed with a water-containing liquidprior to printing, such as with a spray bottle or a mechanized process,as described above in step 12A of FIG. 1A, although this step is notillustrated in FIG. 1B for simplicity and clarity.

Next, at step 14B, the textile is advanced under one or more print headssubassemblies, where UV-curable ink is applied to the textile, inaccordance with the desired design indicated by the digital design file,and the UV-curable ink is cured by application of UV light, such as byan LED lamp in one embodiment, or by another type of light/energy sourcein other embodiments. In some embodiments, the application of UV-curableink in step 14A and the curing of the ink with UV light in step 16A maybe performed in one or more passes of one or more print headsubassemblies that include one or more inkjet print head(s) and one ormore UV light source(s) (such as an LED lamp(s) or another light/energysource) carried by each subassembly, so that the printed ink is curedimmediately after application to the textile. In other embodiments,separate structures may be used to perform these two steps, as long ascuring of the UV-curable ink occurs within a time sufficient for theviscosity and/or other rheological properties of the ink to be modifiedso that good adhesion of the ink to the textile can occur. In addition,the application of UV-curable ink may involve an initial application ofwhite ink before applying CMYK colored ink and/or clear ink(particularly for mid to dark colored fabrics, for example), in order tomake the colors more vibrant.

After printing and curing of the UV-curable ink, the textile mayoptionally be dried (as generally described in step 17A of FIG. 1A,although this step is not shown in FIG. 1B for simplicity and clarity).Heat may also optionally be applied to the textile at step 18B. Heat maybe applied in combination with pressure, such as with a heat press orheated rollers, for example, or without application of pressure, such asvia a heat tunnel, an additional light and/or heat source, or even bythe heat from the same UV light source(s) used to cure the UV-curableink on the textile. In one particular example, heat pressing may beperformed for about 30 seconds at about 250° F. (121° C.). The heatingstep can further ensure that all of the monomers of the UV-curable inkare fully cured, for certain UV-curable inks that are curable by both UVlight and by heat, for example. Then, mechanical processing of thetextile may optionally be performed at step 19B. This may involvecutting or slitting of the textile (such as for mechanically processinga garment), tensioning a take-up roll to control the pressure on thetextile, or other mechanical processing steps. This step is particularlyapplicable to an assembly line/processing system in which thedirect-to-textile printing system is one step or station in a largertextile assembly process. Finally, at step 20B, the printed textile isremoved or repositioned/advanced. For example, this may involve removingthe printed textile from the roll-to-roll media/support. In anotherexample, the printed textile may be repositioned or advanced on theroll-to-roll system for further processing of some kind.

In some embodiments, curing the UV-curable ink with UV light in step 14Band step 18B of applying heat to the textile may be specificallyconfigured and controlled so that the UV-curable ink applied to thetextile is only partially cured at step 14B, and full curing of theUV-curable ink is completed at step 18B by application of heat (whichcould include further UV light application to promote full curing aswell). In other embodiments, curing the UV-curable ink with UV light instep 14B may be configured and controlled to achieve complete curing ofthe UV-curable ink applied to the textile.

An exemplary printing machine that may be used to perform the processdescribed above (for example, the process described in FIG. 1A) mayinclude the 7200z Edition Printer available from Direct Color Systems ofRocky Hill, Conn., an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 2.Specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates digital printing machine 21 thatincludes flatbed table 22 for receiving a textile to be printed, andrails 24 configured to permit movement of table 22 perpendicular to aprint direction. Printing machine 21 also includes print headsubassembly 26 carrying inkjet nozzles 27 and UV light source 28, whichis capable of scanning from side to side along the print direction.

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary printing machine that may be usedto perform the process described above (for example, the processdescribed in FIG. 1B). Specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates digital printingmachine 31 that includes roll-to-roll media 32 for supporting andadvancing a textile to be printed, and media roller 34 and takeup roller35 that are operable to advance media 32 in the direction of arrow A,perpendicular to a print direction. Printing machine 31 also includesprint head subassembly 36 carrying inkjet nozzles 37 and UV light source38, which is capable of scanning from side to side along the printdirection. In other embodiments, print head subassembly 36 may includeinkjet nozzles 37 and UV light source(s) 38 that cover the entire widthof the printing area on roll-to-roll media 32, so that print headsubassembly 36 may be stationary.

In both printing machine 21 (FIG. 2) and printing machine 31 (FIG. 3),print head subassembly 26/36 may include a single print head or aplurality of print heads that are ganged together, in variousembodiments, with a plurality of inkjet nozzles 27/37 being carried bythe print head(s). UV light source 28/38, which may be one or more LEDlamps in exemplary embodiments, or may be another type of light/energysource in other embodiments, is used to cure UV-curable ink dispensedfrom the inkjet nozzles of the print head subassembly, which are locatedin the print direction from UV light source 28/38. In one particularexample, an LED lamp assembly is employed that emits 395 nm wavelengthlight with irradiance of 6 Watts per square centimeter (W/cm²). Otherparameters or lamps for UV light source 28/38 may be selected for otherembodiments and for particular applications.

Inkjet nozzles 27/37 may extend across substantially the entire width ofprint head subassembly 26/36. Print head subassembly 26/36 may include alarge number of inkjet nozzles in various embodiments, and either asingle print head or multiple print heads. In some embodiments, optionalreflectors may be employed to focus the UV light produced by UV lightsource 28/38 onto a concentrated region of ink to be cured that has beendispensed by inkjet nozzles 27/37.

Inkjet nozzles 27/37 of print head subassembly 26/36 can be digital inkdispensers, such as, for example, piezoelectric (“piezo”) dispenserssuch as micro piezo dispensers in some embodiments, thermal inkjet (TIJ)dispensers, or others. Piezo technology is based on the phenomenon ofpiezoelectricity where materials like crystals and ceramics (known as“piezoelectric materials”) react physically by bending, vibrating orexpanding when an electrical charge is applied to them. Piezo printheads feature small piezoelectric actuators that are built behind theprint nozzles. When an electrical charge is applied to them, thepiezoelectric elements bend backward, drawing precise amounts of inkfrom the ink chamber into the firing chamber. When the electrical pulseis reversed, the piezoelectric elements bend the opposite way veryrapidly, propelling the ink out of the nozzles at high speed. Piezotechnology is able to precisely eject ink droplets of up to fivedifferent sizes by controlling minute variations in the charge appliedto the piezoelectric actuators of the print heads.

The UV curing process and various other control features necessary fordigital printing operation, including the control of registrationrepeatability, can be controlled. For example, the print engine controlsystem may consist of a standard photo quality printer control systemand components capable of resolutions ranging from 360 DPI up to 5760DPI. Printing machine 21/31 may dispense a single layer or multiplelayers of ink onto garments being printed, in various embodiments.

In some embodiments, such as in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3,print head subassembly 26/36 can be configured to print “inline.” Inlineprinting may involve first printing out a base color layer from inkjetnozzles that are arranged furthest in the print direction. A second setof inkjet nozzles that are arranged further back in the followingdirection (opposite the print direction) can then print another colorlayer of UV-curable ink on the base color layer. All of the dispensedink can then be cured as UV light source 28/38 passes over the regionsthat were just printed to. This process can be completed in a singlepass. A second pass or even further passes of print head subassembly26/36 may be used to add additional colors or features.

In printing machines 21 and 31, print head subassembly 26/36 is movablerelative to the rest of printing machine 21/31 both away from table22/media 32 and across table 22/media 32 (i.e., in the print direction).Because both table 22/media 32 and print head subassembly 26/36 aremovable relative to the rest of printing machine 21/31, printing machine21/31 can be controlled to modify the position of table 22 and advancethe media 32, and also to modify the height of print head subassembly 26from table 22.

In an alternative configuration of printing machine 21 shown in FIG. 2,print head subassembly 26 may be kept completely stationary, and table22 may be moved multi-dimensionally instead. In various embodiments,movement of one, the other, or both of print head subassembly 26 andtable 22 are possible, so long as there is relative movement of printhead subassembly 26 to table 22 that permits for dispensing and curingUV ink in a satisfactorily precise manner.

A detailed description of many of the basic functions (such as printhead subassembly positioning and flatbed table positioning, and rasterimage processing of design files, for example) of a printing machinelike printing machine 21 shown in FIG. 2 is provided in U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/780,346 filed on Sep. 25, 2015. The disclosure of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/780,346 relating to these basic printing machinefunctions is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIG. 4A is a diagram of a print head subassembly configuration in aroll-to-roll printing machine configured for single pass operation witha print head and UV light source. As illustrated in FIG. 4A,roll-to-roll media 32 is provided for supporting and advancing a textileto be printed, and media roller 34 and takeup roller are operable toadvance media 32 in the direction of arrow A. Print head P and UV lightsource L are provided, so that UV-curable ink may be applied by printhead P and at least partially cured by UV light source L in a singlepass as a textile supported by media 32 passes under print head P and UVlight source L in the direction of arrow A. In the embodiment shown,print head P and UV light source L are stationary and are sufficientlywide to cover the entire width of the textile supported on roll-to-rollmedia 32 as it passes by. However, in other embodiments, print head Pand/or UV light source L may be capable of scanning from side to side,perpendicular to arrow A, to cover the entire width of the textilesupported on roll-to-roll media 32 as it passes by.

FIG. 4B is a diagram of a print head subassembly configuration in aroll-to-roll printing machine configured for single pass operation withmultiple print heads and UV light sources. As illustrated in FIG. 4B,roll-to-roll media 32 is provided for supporting and advancing a textileto be printed, and media roller 34 and takeup roller are operable toadvance media 32 in the direction of arrow A. In the configuration shownin FIG. 4B, two print heads P1 and P2 and UV light sources L1 and L2 areprovided, so that UV-curable ink may be applied by print heads P1 and P2and at least partially cured by UV light sources L1 and L2 in a singlepass as a textile supported by media 32 passes under print heads P1 andP2 and UV light sources L1 and L2 in the direction of arrow A. In otherembodiments, more than two print heads and/or UV light sources could beused. In the configuration shown in FIG. 4B, print heads P1 and P2 andUV light sources L1 and L2 are stationary and together are sufficientlywide to cover the entire width of the textile supported on roll-to-rollmedia 32 as it passes by. However, in other embodiments, print heads P1and P2 and/or UV light sources L1 and L2 may be capable of scanning fromside to side, perpendicular to arrow A, to cover the entire width of thetextile supported on roll-to-roll media 32 as it passes by.

By employing the direct-to-textile printing process described herein,applying UV-curable ink and curing the applied ink with a UV lightsource, textiles made of synthetic fabric, blended fabric and cotton mayall be printed in their natural state, without undergoing pre-treatmentby a chemical agent, which had previously been required (particularlyfor synthetic fabric and blended fabric, and dark-colored cotton fabric)in order for the ink to bond sufficiently to the textile. As a result,durable and resistant prints can be achieved without any pre-treatmentof the textiles, and the printed image is able to stretch with thefabric of the textiles. FIG. 5 illustrates the printing quality that canbe achieved by the direct-to-textile digital printing process describedherein, without pretreatment of the fabric, for a dark cotton shirt(top), a dark polyester shirt (middle), and a light colored Nike Dri-Fitshirt (bottom). These materials and colors could not be printed in adirect-to-textile process using conventional water-based inks withoutchemical pretreatment.

While the direct-to-textile printing process described above has beenexplained as not requiring pre-treatment with a chemical agent, itshould be understood that the UV-curable ink described herein could beused in some embodiments with a chemically pre-treated fabric. Whilesuch pre-treatment is not necessary in most embodiments in order toachieve high quality printing with good adhesion of the ink to thetextile fabric, there may be some situations in which a pre-treatmentmay be performed, and the direct-to-textile printing process describedherein using UV-curable ink may be employed in those scenarios in orderto provide improved print quality and ink adhesion for a variety offabrics and applications.

In the description above, reference has been made to challengesassociated with printing onto “dark” colored textiles or fabrics. In atleast some of the embodiments herein, a “dark” colored textile or fabricis defined as a textile in which, when the color in the artwork definedin the design file used to control printing is converted to the HSL(Hue-Saturation-Lightness) Color Cylinder space, and is thensubsequently printed onto the textile, the color measured on the textilehas a Lightness (“L”) value that has decreased by 2.5% or more from theL value of the color defined in the design file. In such a case, in someof the embodiments described above, white ink is printed under the imageprior to printing the colors as defined in the design file, therebyassuring that the correct color is being printed onto the textile andthe colors are not darker than they are intended to be as defined by theartwork in the design file.

While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplaryembodiment(s), it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from theessential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the inventionnot be limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed, but that theinvention will include all embodiments falling within the scope andconcepts of this description.

1. A method of digitally printing UV-curable ink with adirect-to-textile printing system onto a textile that has not beenpretreated with chemical pretreatment agents, the method comprising:positioning the textile in the direct-to-textile printing system;applying a liquid to the textile that includes water and that excludeschemical pretreatment agents; applying UV-curable ink to the textilewith the direct-to-textile printing system according to a digital designfile, after the liquid has been applied to the textile; and applying UVlight to the textile containing the liquid and the UV-curable ink, withsufficient intensity to at least partially cure the UV-curable ink so asto promote adherence of the UV-curable ink to the textile.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein applying the liquid to the textile that includeswater and that excludes chemical pretreatment agents is performed by amechanized process.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the liquidconsists of distilled water.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theliquid consists essentially of water and a surfactant.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the surfactant comprises about 1% of the liquid sprayedon the textile.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the textile comprisesa synthetic fabric.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the textilecomprises a natural fabric or a blend of a natural fabric and asynthetic fabric.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, afterthe step of applying UV light to the textile with UV light, applyingheat to the textile.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein applying heat tothe textile comprises heat pressing the textile for about 30 seconds atabout 250° F. (121° C.).
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein theUV-curable ink is partially cured with the UV light, and is fully curedby applying heat to the textile.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein theUV-curable ink is partially cured with the UV light, and is fully curedby subsequently applying additional UV light to the textile.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein applying UV light to the textile comprisescompletely curing the UV-curable ink with the UV light.
 13. The methodof claim 1, wherein applying UV light to the textile comprisesapplication of UV light by at least one LED light source.
 14. The methodof claim 1, wherein applying UV-curable ink to the textile with thedirect-to-textile printing system and applying UV light to the textileare performed in at least one pass of a print head subassembly thatcarries at least one inkjet print head and at least one UV light source,such that UV-curable ink is applied to the textile by the at least oneinkjet print head and is at least partially cured immediately afterapplication to the textile by the at least one UV light source.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein applying UV-curable ink to the textile withthe direct-to-textile printing system and applying UV light to thetextile are performed by advancing the textile on a roll-to-roll mediaadjacent to at least one print head subassembly that carries at leastone inkjet print head and at least one UV light source, such thatUV-curable ink is applied to the textile by the at least one inkjetprint head and is at least partially cured immediately after applicationto the textile by the at least one UV light source.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein applying UV-curable ink to the textile with thedirect-to-textile printing system according to the digital design filecomprises: applying at least one layer of white ink on the textile; andapplying CMYK colored ink and/or clear ink on the at least one layer ofwhite ink on the textile.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein thetextile is a dark colored textile.
 18. A method of digitally printingUV-curable ink with a direct-to-textile printing system onto a textilethat has not been pretreated with chemical pretreatment agents, themethod comprising: positioning the textile in the direct-to-textileprinting system; applying a liquid to the textile that includes waterand that excludes chemical pretreatment agents, thereby creating amodified interfacial surface of the textile due to the presence of theliquid in the textile; applying UV-curable ink, after the liquid hasbeen applied to the textile, to the modified interfacial surface of thetextile with the direct-to-textile printing system according to adigital design file, thereby allowing the UV-curable ink and the liquidapplied to the textile to partially mix together in the textile; andapplying UV light to the textile containing the liquid and theUV-curable ink, with sufficient intensity to at least partially cure theUV-curable ink so as to promote adherence of the UV-curable ink to thetextile.
 19. A direct-to-textile digital printing system comprising: asupport media configured to receive and support a textile; a mechanizedspraying apparatus configured to spray a liquid that includes water andthat excludes chemical pretreatment agents onto the textile; at leastone print head subassembly carrying at least one inkjet print head thatis configured to apply UV-curable ink to the textile containing theliquid sprayed thereon, according to a digital design file; and at leastone UV light source configured to apply UV light to the textilecontaining the liquid and the UV-curable ink, after the UV-curable inkis applied to the textile by the at least one print head subassembly, toat least partially cure the UV-curable ink applied to the textile so asto promote adherence of the UV-curable ink to the textile; wherein atleast one of the support media and the at least one print headsubassembly are movable with respect to each other.
 20. Thedirect-to-textile printing system of claim 19, wherein the support mediacomprises a roll-to-roll system configured to move the textile.
 21. Thedirect-to-textile printing system of claim 19, wherein the support mediacomprises a flatbed of a direct-to-textile printer.
 22. A method ofdigitally printing ultraviolet UV-curable ink with a direct-to-textileprinting system onto a textile that has not been pretreated withchemical pretreatment agents, the method comprising: positioning thetextile in the direct-to-textile printing system; applying UV-curableink to the textile with the direct-to-textile printing system accordingto a digital design file, with the textile having received no liquid orchemical treatment prior to applying the UV-curable ink to the textile;and applying UV light to the textile containing the UV-curable ink, withsufficient intensity to at least partially cure the UV-curable ink so asto promote adherence of the UV-curable ink to the textile.
 23. Themethod of claim 22, wherein applying UV-curable ink to the textile withthe direct-to-textile printing system according to the digital designfile comprises: applying CMYK colored ink directly onto the textile thathas received no liquid or chemical treatment prior to applying theUV-curable ink to the textile.